By VE-Day, 1.6 million American soldiers stood on German soil. Their first months in the land of their former enemy were marked by a number of surprising observations and interactions.

In his Museum oral history, Senior Chief Radioman Walter Nelson recounts the Battle of the Coral Sea.

Diagnosed with Hansen’s disease and unable to access medication in Japanese-occupied Philippines, Josefina Guerrero decided to join the guerrilla movement and become a spy. Her disease allowed her to move untouched by the Japanese, providing critical intel to American forces as they moved towards the Battle of Manila.

World War II shaped the kind of person, musician, and composer Dave Brubeck became.

In this clip, Fred Hollis describes how he learned about the attack on Pearl Harbor.

In 1942, the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) became the first independent US intelligence agency. It only lasted for three years and three months but it became the basis for the modern Central Intelligence Agency.

Curator of Oral History Joey Balfour offers some suggestions for interviewing friends or loved ones at home.

Between May 13 and May 15, 1945 the 8th Air Force conducted Operation Revival. The target was Stalag Luft I and the objective was to evacuate nearly 8500 Allied POWs via stripped-down B-17s, along with some C-46s and C47s.

Walter Broll was present during the German bombing attack on Bari Harbor in Italy on 2 December 1943.

Although the precipitating events could not have been more different, both high school students in World War II and high school students today have seen their school lives disrupted and irrevocably changed seemingly overnight.

Historical fiction has a power all its own to communicate experiences of war and atrocity.

In the bloodiest battle in Marine Corps history, 27 Marines and sailors were awarded the Medal of Honor for action on Iwo Jima. No other campaign surpassed that number.